Apprentice jockey Laura Pearson enjoyed her first Royal Ascot success on Lola Showgirl as she led home a one-two for trainer David Loughnane in the Kensington Palace Handicap, the final race of an absorbing day two.
The Kensington Palace Handicap over the round mile is a new addition to the Royal Ascot programme this year and is restricted to older fillies and mares.
Pearson proved tactically astute aboard 12/1 chance Lola Showgirl, making every yard of the running and fending off stablemate Ffion (10/1) by three-quarters of a length. Waliyak (9/1) made ground late to take third, a neck behind the runner-up.
Loughnane, also celebrating his first Royal Ascot success, said: “David Loughnane Royal Ascot winning trainer sounds pretty unbelievable right now.
“Some kids dream of being footballers, singers and superheroes – this is my dream. To be living it is very surreal so quickly in my career. Myself and [my wife] Sarah are so grateful to our families, our owners, our staff. It might take a while to sink in, this.
“It was a case of who do you cheer for, and I think the chant became ‘come on, girls!’. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t fancy them both coming in today. I couldn’t split them. Ffion probably has more ability while Lola Showgirl, as she showed today, is just so tough. She loves a fight.
“Our head lass Sarah Taylor writes Ffion every day, and Steve Brookshaw, Grand National-winning trainer, rides Lola Showgirl every day. They’ve done a lot of the work, I’m very happy for them both, very happy for the team, we’re very grateful for all the hard work they put in.
“Me and Sarah (wife) have worked hard, but we wouldn’t be here without the team we have at home. We’re here for the week, being the face of the show but they’re the ones that are doing the hard graft. I’m delighted for the owners, delighted for the staff and it’s one that will live long in the memory.
“I’ve been a fan of Laura for a long time. I’d seen her riding when she went up to David Evans as an apprentice. I was impressed by her then and we’ve tried just to support her as much as we could since, and she’s rewarded that support tenfold.
“She’s as cool as a breeze – whether she’s from off the pace or is in the front, she’s got her sectionals to the second. Her first ride at Royal Ascot…that’s a hell of a ride. She’s repaid our faith in her and I couldn’t be happier for her and everyone else involved.”
Looking ahead to the chances of Go Bears Go in the Norfolk Stakes tomorrow, he added: “A lot more bullish now. We’ve come here very bullish. Myself and Sarah had a chat coming down last night and we’ve been here before. We’ve been here as outsiders and we’ve been here for days out and we have five runners this week and we’ve got chances with all five, as these two have just shown today.
“I wouldn’t swap Go Bears Go for any horse in the race. I think he’s a very special animal. It’ll take a very good horse to beat him. We’ll go there and ride him like the best horse and if he’s beaten fair and square, he’s beaten fair and square. We’re very confident and hopefully he can repay that confidence.”
Pearson said: “I don’t even know what to say, it’s just quite incredible really. I had a lovely run and it all went to plan.
“Lola Showgirl bowled out and, although she has been running over seven, Mr Loughnane said she’d want every stride of the mile. We got into a lovely rhythm and she just kept plugging on for me. It went really smoothly.
“This success is incredible. I knew she had half a chance today. She is very strong and I just couldn’t believe that I had a winner on my first ride at Royal Ascot.
“We took a break at the end of the All-Weather season to protect my claim and it has worked out really well.
“Hollie [Doyle] helps me so much, as well as Hayley [Turner] – I can’t thank them enough for the amount of times they’ve given me a hand and it’s paid off.”